10. Ten Broken Ornaments
At first Alfred thought it was an accident. As time went on he began to question if someone was just being really clumsy. After the ninth time he put his foot down and decided to investigate.
"Ivan!" Alfred called out from the living room as he inspected the Christmas tree.
His husband quickly poked his head out from above the stairs. "What's wrong, Fredka?" He descended the stairs and stood in front of his lover with a concerned expression.
"Over the past few days the ornaments on the tree keep breaking! I look away for a few hours, and come back to another one broken on the floor. What if the kids or cats end up steppin' on the shards?" Alfred sighed and shook his head. "Any idea why they keep breakin'?"
"Cheap American material?" Ivan suggested with a small smile.
"Ivan! Seriously!"
"Okay, okay. I am not sure. Should we ask your kids?" Ivan tilted his head to the side.
"Hey, my kids wouldn't break stuff n' not tell me. They have some manners thank you very much." Alfred crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at the man in warning.
Ivan put his arms up in defense and nodded, "Da, you're right. I don't know what else could have done it thou-"
CRACK
Both Alfred and Ivan jumped at the sudden cracking sound that erupted into the living room. Upon turning around they found two cats frozen like deers caught in front of a headlight. The two felines were next to yet another broken ornament on the floor. All four figures in the room remained staring at one another before Alfred broke the silence with a chuckle. That chuckle soon formed into full fledged laughter as everything connected together. Soon both cats ran away and Ivan was left alone with his laughing husband.
"Th-the cats were playing with the ornaments a-and breaking them!" Alfred said through gasps of laughter.
Ivan hummed at that knowledge. "I'm surprised they didn't learn that was a bad idea after the first few."
After a couple moments, Alfred calmed down and shook his head once again. "I kept cleanin' up the mess and replacin' the ornaments, so they probably thought it was some sort of toy that would multiplying each time!"
"Our cats are as strange as us sometimes," Ivan smiled sweetly at the thought. Like cats like owners.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, both Americat and Koshka seemed to smirk at each other. They knew full well what they were doing and it was fun. That's what Alfred gets for forgetting their gifts last year.